"FAITHFULNESS"

FAITHFULNESS....what does faithfulness look like? Well to me it looks like a sunrise.
Last year while we were spending a week in Charleston writing our book for the ministry entitled "The Story Matters" , several mornings we walked out onto the beach to watch the sunrise. And that is when "Faithfulness" hit me like a ton of bricks. As I watched the slender line of light appear on the waters edge against the black sky...I began to hear God say to me..."Lesa I am faithful...I am the Author of the dark of night and I am the Author of the Light of Day...Trust Me to know that I am Faithful....I won't pass you by....You do not need to fret or worry...I will always send the dawn....and with it my NEW mercies will be there for you". And as that sun appeared on the horizon along with the sun came the warmth. It was just an awesome moment for me to witness this.
I remember a time of great darkness for me in 2007....at the Hospice House. Me and my family were gathered around the bed of our precious mama watching each labored breath knowing fully well that she was slipping from this earth and from our lives. I remember the quiteness of the room as she labored; fighting between this earthly life and the spiritual life that gloriously awaited her. But then something very strange happened....and I know for a fact that this was from the Lord.
The nurse had stopped by to check on mama and on us to see how we were handling everything. In talking to her I told her that we were ready to let mama go and that we knew she would be ok. Then I made some type of comment about the morning will come (cause it was just a little past midnight by then). Suddenly out of nowhere the radio by mama's bedside turned on and a minister was preaching....the next moment was so surreal for me....cause in the darkness of that room with death looming all about us; the preacher shouted, "JOY comes in the morning". The nurse looked stunned. She said in all her years of nursing that this had never happened.

To me this was a gift from God. Cause He knew that in 4 1/2 hours mama would no longer be with us but with Him. And He wanted to assure us that JOY would come. And even though the sun did appear that next spring morning after Mothers Day 2007, I was still dark with sadness...of lost...but His FAITHFULNESS continued....and about six months later JOY returned. My "morning" had finally dawned after my "mourning". He was there....I could sense His warmth and His new mercies again.
Just like that sunrise...the cold of the night was ending and the dawn of a new light was on the horizon. He was there...reminding me....
"I am faithful.....
I am here....
I never left you... even in the dark....
"See here is my sunrise to remind you of just that....I am faithful....I am here....I never left you....no, not even for one moment"